# Beer Review: City Steam Blonde on Blonde



## android (Feb 27, 2012)

Shane & Pam (foster0274) shared this beer with me via their 'Wheel of Destruction Bomb'. It is a local beer from the City Steam Brewery in Hartford, CT. No idea of their distribution network, but I love trying beers that aren't normally available to me. This is a Blonde ale that is billed as being 'very hoppy', which is good in my book. Sort of a combo of the Blonde and Pale Ale style.

*Appearance*: This beer pours a relatively cloudy (I may not have been careful enough with the yeast/sediment on the bottom when pouring), with a minimal head that dissipated fairly quickly. Nice pale golden color.

*Smell*: I did a little background investigation on this beer and found that they use Northern Brewer hops for the bittering and Cascade/Centennial for aroma/flavor. However, I smelled it first to see what I could decipher before checking to see what they used. Honestly, I didn't get much of the typical citrusy (orange, grapefruit) aroma from the C hops, I was getting a minty, evergreen, noble hop-like aroma and couldn't pinpoint what it was. After looking at the website, it is definitely the aroma of the Northern Brewer hops that was dominant to my nose even though they were bittering hops. It was a nice smell, just not something that I'm used to with this style.

*Mouthfeel*: Not a whole heck of a lot to report here. Fairly dry with carbonation being on the lower side for this beer. Not much of a mouth coater, but easy drinking and fairly light on the palette.

*Taste*: A little on the thin side, not a ton of malt in the flavor profile. I was still getting some overlap with the Northern Brewer hop smell in the taste. The bitterness didn't linger for long and wasn't over the top, just about right for the style.

*Overall*: A nice offering for a blonde/pale ale. Decidedly unique with the Northern Brewer hops in there, something I wasn't expecting. If I am ever in the vicinity of Hartford, which I hope to be someday, I will belly up at the City Steam and enjoy a few pints. I wouldn't classify this as 'very hoppy', but i guess it all depends on who is drinking it and their level of hop love.


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